Since I've just started a new fic, in the same vein as several other authors, I've decided to start a Q&A forum. Keep in mind though, that you are going to be asking Fox and Jonathan questions. Not me.

Well now, this is certainly interesting. Don't you agree, Johnny-boy?

You're lucky I can't actually get my hands on you right now, or you'd be in jail faster than you can blink, Fox

Question from John to Johnathan-
"Johnathan, I heard about your dealing with Fox, and I have to ask, do you think you'll ever get your hands on her, because through all reports I've read, there are those who think you just don't have what it takes. Your thought's on this?"

Yes, TDN. I did just ask something while in a chat with you.

3794850

That thief? No way! Not in a million years! Though...she is rather...no no no! (shakes his head vigorously)

Johnny boy? Oh he's cute, especially when he's upset. He's pretty good in the looks department too. (Inwardly: yes, but he can't know. I can't tell him without him finding out who I am)

3795441
(cracks knuckles) What was that, old man? Well you can tell those numb skulls this. I don't care what they think. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has ever gotten closer to catching that thief than I have. And I can confidently say that that has been the case for my entire family for GENERATIONS. Others have tried catching Fox, but nobody else has ever come even CLOSE. So I say this to those idiots. If you think you can catch Fox, then get off your fat butts, and do it yourselves. Do that first before you start pointing any fingers. If not, then shut your traps.

"So in other words, give them the finger?" John chuckled, before walking away from the boy.

Seth - Phantom Thief Fox huh? Geez, I just dealt with one thief and now a new one pops up.

Rika - Maybe she won't come to Canterlot?

Seth - Yeah, because no thief would want to steal the rarest Jewels on Equus... *sigh* Well, if she thinks she's getting by me, she's got another thing coming.

Hey Phantom, have/had you invested in flashbang grenades during you career as a thief? I feel that such equipment would make it very hard for your adversaries to pursue you, especially in the dark.

3798146
Oh? Is that a challenge I hear? Then I accept. The Equestrian Crown Jewels will be mine. However, I won't lower myself to the level of some nobody thief. For now, build up your defenses, and move them to the castle. Heck, have the rulers of Equestria guard the jewels for all I care. It won't make a difference.

3798168
Of course I have. Though, personally I prefer more subtle tools, like Smoke bombs and grappling hooks. Flashbangs are good for quick escapes, but they can also draw attention if I'm not careful where and when I use them. Likewise, if I use them recklessly, I might end up disorienting my team at the same time, and that would be counter productive.

Hey Jonathon, have you considered investing in the use of tear gas against the Fox? I feel that, while some would consider it to be excessive force, if it brought in the Fox the most that would happen is you would get yelled at.

3799197
Well...it was knockout gas, though it was more the chief's idea than mine. Load of good it did for us though. Damn thief punctured a hole into container before we could use it. Knocked all of us out. Though, the heat the chief got after the higher ups found out his idea had basically given Fox the cleanest heist she ever pulled off was sooo worth it.

3800091
If you were deploying knockout gas, WHY THE HELL DID YOU NOT HAVE GASMASKS?! Seriously, your boss has a serious case of the stupids if he really thought that deploying ANY form of chemical gas without making your own forces immune to it was a good idea. I half think that if your boss wasn't as much of an idiot, you'd have caught the Fox by now.

3800443
Well...that's where it gets kinda weird. I and a few other officers got gas masks, but it turns out there weren't enough for everyone on the scene for one reason or another. Second, to be fair, it was kinda hard to put on the gas masks in time when that hole Fox punctured sent the gas gushing out in a torrent, so everyone standing right next to the container (which was most of us) were knocked out almost instantly. And last, it was kinda hard for me to put on my gas mask considering Fox took it right out of my hand. Darn Spinaraks. Never liked bugs much either...

3800515
And why did you not have the masks on BEFORE the Fox showed up?

3800939
That's easy. First of all, wearing a gas mask muffles your voice, and when dealing with Fox, out coordination needs to be top notch, or she'll slip right through the holes a lack of proper communication causes. Second, and more importantly, the gas was supposed to be our secret weapon. Wearing a mask at all times would have tipped her off, never mind what actually happened that time. Plus, we didn't want to cause a panic if civilians saw us wearing gas masks, which are never a good sign.

3801030
And that sort of thing is why trying to keep a secret from a thief never works. At this point, it would be better if you started researching previous Fox heists, see what your predecessors tried, what sort of worked, what failed miserably, and see if you can improve from there. One good idea would be for any future grates to be designed so that they fall if power is cut, not when power is applied. And maybe make it so that the remote has to send a constant signal to keep the grates open, making destroying the remote counter-productive.

3801126
Gee, that's a great idea. Too bad I already did it. My family has dealt with Fox for generations. I've gone through every known trick Fox has ever used and/or tried, which is why I've gotten some close ones before. Problem is, Fox also learns from the predecessor somehow, which leads me to suspect that every Fox that has ever existed are related to each other, possibly kin. So yeah, unfortunately, even though I know plenty of her tricks, the problem is I never know which trick she's gonna use until she pulls it, and its impossible to prepare for all of them. Heck, its practically an ARMS race at this point. As for the grates, those were a fail-safe I had to follow. If they weren't designed to retract when they lost the signal, or lost power, then there's a chance that whoever uses them may find themselves trapped for an indefinite amount of time. The only alternative was to get one without the fail-safe, and that's illegal, so...yeah. Sides, for all its worth, one thing I can count on Fox is, as much as I loath to admit it, her honor. So personally it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I were to catch her, but stain my own honor in the process by using illegal equipment. After all, just as Dad always used to say, 'As an officer of the law, we must always set a good example to the people. An Officer who throws morals and responsibility to the wind is not a true officer at all'.

3801291
What about Tasers or stun-guns? Or having BACKUP remotes. That, and maybe making the WINDOW grates stay down when the power fails, but having the rest pop back up. That way, you can avoid the trick she just pulled on you without breaking the law. Just have them put barricades with CONVENTIONAL doors in the hallways, allowing passage without needing electricity.

3802090
We already tried tasers and stun-guns, and the less said about what happened the better (mutters: You'd think people would have the common sense to not use them in the middle of a crowded room, but noooo, they just had to use them, and give Fox the perfect chance to have us take ourselves out). As for barricades, they're not much good when her Liepard knows Hyper Beam, though admittedly, we did have some close ones when we got her before the Liepard had a chance to use Hyper Beam, but Fox herself is still extremely slippery. As for the grates...I did consider that, but as of recently, I don't think I'll be able to put that idea into effect any time soon, considering the level of Tech the Equusians have.

3803803
So basically, the Fox pulled an ELC. (Some explanation. In our world there is a free-to-play online game called World of Tanks. In this game, there is a Tier 5 French light tank called the ELC AMX. It is not only capable of over 60 kilometers per hour, but is also highly maneuverable and very short, making it fairly easy for a skilled ELC driver to bait the enemy into firing in situations where a miss would hit another enemy. Hence, 'pulling an ELC.')

EDIT: Derp, I forgot to proofread.

3805191
...yes, that's exactly what happened.

Also, if the Fox uses mostly Dark types, why not field teams of Fighting types, possibly including an Infernape in each?

3807058
Not that simple. Those Pokemon are as much thieves as their master, and despite what the higher ups want to believe, I can tell they're not being controlled or anything, which is why conventional wisdom doesn't apply to them. First of all, the Pokemon Fox uses varies depending on which Fox it is, and furthermore, while her main team DOES consist of mostly Dark-types, she's been known to pull out Pokemon that she has never used before, so we have no guarantee that a strategy focused on countering Dark-types will work. Furthermore, her main team are all extremely slippery, just like their master. So yeah, even when I had Heat learn a few Fighting-type moves, they didn't do as much good as expected, since her Pokemon just weaved around them. Heck, Heat's still a bit sore about how her Weavile up and used his own Brick Break to flip him over. As for Infernapes...I live in Kalos, and I'm not about to make a trip to Sinnoh JUST to find one. Pokemon are our friends, not tools. Why do you think I don't have a full team of 6 Pokemon? I've been with them for years, and they know me better than anyone else.

Hey Fox, I'm curious. Have any previous Phantom Thieves tried creating a team of thieves instead of just having them be the sole human behind the heist? Such an arrangement would allow such things as using a helicopter to get onto the roof of particularly tall buildings.

3807076
Actually...yes. There have been a few times when one of my ancestors formed a group. Problem is, most of the time it was only good at first, but before long, personal issues happened after a few years with various end results, the tamest being the group splits up on bad terms. If I'm not mistaken, one of my ancestors got KILLED when one of the members of his gang decided that he wasn't giving him his fair share. Good thing he had two more siblings, and had already started getting suspicious enough of his 'friend' to leave them warnings, or Phantom Thief Fox would have ended with him. On the other hand, there are 2 of my ancestors who had a gang, and it worked out fine for them. I think it was my great great great great granduncle, Arsene, who was Fox 300 years ago, and my great great grandfather, Sylvester, who was Fox a little under 200 years ago.

3807120
So, I'm curious. Do you usually target people who are guilty of crimes? Sort of a Robin Hood-esque vigilante of sorts? Stealing from criminals, finding evidence of their crimes, and then giving it to the police?

3808920
Most of the time, yes. Of course, I make sure to check with my contacts first, as my family has spent years setting up a bunch of surveillance programs and contacts in the underground both on the net and in the real world, so we're in a good position to know who did what. While I do not know who this Robin Hood you speak of is, from what I can understand, it seems he did about the same as my family has done for generations. Though, I don't always target criminals only. Sometimes Fox will target museums and/or other fortified locations for practice. Of course, we always return what we stole when its for practice, and we're secretly doing the community a service, as dealing with us has forced the authorities to be on their toes at all times, which is why regions where Fox sets up shop tend to develop better officers...at least for a while.

3794565 A Question for the both of you. Have either of you heard of the PLA (Pokemon Liberation Army)? Or perhaps even dealt with their ilk before?

3809469
Those guys? Yeah, I've heard and had the displeasure of dealing with a few of their operatives, like that annoying Breloom who somehow managed to steal some blueprints. When I first heard about the PLA, it was through rumors, and honestly, I felt bad for them considering the crap that the scum of our society must have put them through if they decided to try and rise up against humans. After I had to deal with some of them...I still feel for them, but sometimes I think the kind thing to do would be to put them out of their misery. Especially that Seviper. I swear, he's got something broke inside. (shudders)

The PLA? Of course I've heard about them. You don't have contacts in the underworld of society and not hear about the PLA one way or another. As for dealing with them, I had an encounter with them back in Hoenn when dad was training me to be the next Fox. It was near the end of my training, and for a test, I was breaking into a jewelry store that was showing off a rare jewel they had recently acquired (undetected of course), but since this wasn't a real Fox heist, all I had to do was get in unseen (meaning I had to disable the cameras too), tag the jewel, then get out. What I didn't expects, was just as I got out of the store, someone tripped the alarm, and boy was I surprised when I peeked back in to see a bunch of Pokemon in uniform taking the jewels, with the irony being that they never touched the jewel I tagged. Anyway, since I didn't have any physical backup, I beat a hasty retreat before the cops showed up, and a couple of days later, I found myself laughing at the headlines of the paper. Turns out, someone had switched those same jewels with a bunch of Capture Stylers that the local Pokemon Rangers used, and boy the confusion that caused, while not serious, had left a lot of us chuckling for weeks.

So small question. If it came down to it and both of you were forced to play hide and seek(most likely by a prankster like Discord or Hoopa) who do you think would win?

Obviously the thief.

Was asking them Hades... not you.

3810029
Okay, due to the obviously conflicting answers those two would give, I will be answering this one. If you ask me, I think Fox has the advantage, as being a thief, she is both a good hider and seeker. Jonathan on the other hand, while he certainly is a good seeker thanks to the years dealing with Fox, he's not a very good hider in general.

So next question for Fox... have you ever had to flee a rollerskate brigade? They do exist... and they are hilarious to see at points.

3811918
Err...nope. I don't believe I've ever been chased by a rollerskate brigade.

3809669
So Jonathon, what would have happened if you captured some of the PLA operatives? Were you worried about what that Breloom was doing with those blueprints?
As well, were the PLA a top priority?

3812636
Depends who gets caught. I only know about the PLA cause I've had an encounter with them. Otherwise, the PLA is one of those icky cases where the higher ups prefer to keep the circle small, and since I mostly deal with crimes that are human related, I wouldn't even know they actually existed otherwise. Anyway, fortunately most of the known PLA operatives are mostly slated for rehab, though that's only IF they get caught.

In terms of priorities, the efforts put in dealing with this PLA aren't nearly as extensive as the efforts in dealing with the previous PLA, since this one has been deemed well...harmless in comparison, and the fact that they mostly hit groups like Team Rocket is a plus on their side. Too bad they also cause trouble with civilians and other law enforcement groups, otherwise the higher ups might have even let them be. Anyway, the actual list is that most of the PLA are slated for rehab if caught, while a few are unfortunately slated to be...put down, with the top of the list being a Zoroark who, due to the actions of the worst of our society, has been deemed mentally unstable, and HIGHLY dangerous. The Seviper that's leading them on the other hand...I think the higher ups can't tell if they should put him in rehab, toss him into a mental institute, or put him down. As for me, I prefer to keep as far away as possible from these kinds of cases, since the idea of having to put a Pokemon down, even if I understand its for the sake of the public, still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. As for the Breloom...I don't even want to know what he wanted those blueprints for. Though the fact that I believe he was one of the ones teetering on being placed in the category for 'put down'...I try not to think about it

3812842
From what I have been able to determine, that was the PLA member known as General Loom. Head of PLA R&D and weapons development. He likely wanted the blueprints so he could weaponize the tech.

3813109
And these guys want to...ah crap. Suddenly I don't feel so bad about this guy being slated for 'put down'

3794565
A question for the Fox, what is the most... mystical item, you or any of your lineage have ever stolen? Anything relating to myself or one of my children?

3815689
That's a tough one, since there were plenty of things that were SAID to be connected to the Legendaries, and thus valued highly that my ancestors stole, though since none of them actually kept any of them, I don't know if they were really connected to the Legendaries, or just a hyped up myth. Though, the stuff that I know of include the three orbs of the Creation Trio, Zekrom's dark orb, and I think a few of your plates. I think the most mystical might have been something called The Jewel of Life, said to have been directly connected to you (something about representing your life or something)...or it would have been if it weren't for the fact that it was a complete hoax, since the Jewel that had been kept safe and revered for years was smashed to pieces when my ancestor and Jonathan's ancestor fought over it during the heist, and closer inspection after the case revealed that only the outer layer was made of actual crystal/jewel, while the inside was just cheap glass.

3815633
Out of curiosity, what were the blueprints he was stealing for?

3816301
No idea. I was given the orders to only guard it, and not see it. Heck, they never even said who exactly they were expecting to target it, but with how urgent the message was to guard it, and considering I was one of the ones picked to guard it, I was seriously expecting Fox to be the one going after it, so I prepared accordingly. What I was not expecting was a bunch of Pokemon in uniform to come after it, and well...I planned to catch someone who sneaks into places...not charge in like a herd of Tauros.

3816825
... Please tell me that they either didn't get away with the blueprints or that the facility the blueprints were stolen from had NOTHING to do with nuclear power.

3809669
So...what does the underworld have to say about the PLA? Like, what stories and such do they whisper.

3816991
Don't worry. It wasn't something of that caliber. Otherwise, they'd have gotten the army, and not the police to guard it...at least I hope it wasn't. If not, then all I can say is that they were asking for it

3818011
That depends on who you ask. Some think they're a joke, while others say that they could be a really bad thing if given enough time. Most agree though, that if by some miracle they did succeed (mostly cause everyone agrees that the Seviper in charge is a total fruit cake), they'd likely blow themselves up in the process. As for me, I'm just a thief. This is something that I try to keep away from.

3815633
Loom: Put down? *squeaks in fear* You humans were going to put me down?.....Your species is just jealous of the knowledge I possess. I could topple whole countries with but a single one of my ideas. Why, before our untimely arrival in this new world, I was working on a two barralled panzer that could fire in different directions. As well as explosive ordinance. And that thing you were guarding, HA! Simple teleportation tech as well as some anti-pokemon defenses. Trivial.

3818760
Good. While Sev is mostly harmless, Sev's general insanity PLUS nuclear weaponry? Earth would have quite a few radiation contamination zones, and quite a few of those zones would be centered on several major cities.

3818806
If you've been paying attention to the questions Jonathan has been answering, imagine the PLA with city-buster level bombs. That's what a nuclear armed PLA would look like.

3818905
Hence why everyone in the underground believe that if the PLA ever got that lucky, they'd blow themselves up in the process too. If I were to be blunt, as far as the underground is concerned, the PLA is a joke. Although, fair warning to the PLA, quite a few of my contacts have heard rumors of some of the more...paranoid crime lords making plans to remove them before they got a chance to be a problem. Rumor has it that the methods go from planting bombs in your bases (yes, the underground is well aware of your bases), to using drills and/or ground types to make lava flood into your bases. Also, to some of the rarer PLA members who have crossed the wrong people, I do believe they were willing to pay top penny for a coat made out of your skins

3818896
...ya know, for a liberation army, they're not doing a very good job, since last I checked, most Pokemon DIE when they're exposed to radiation just like humans do. I'm starting to REALLY see why some of them are slated to be 'put down'. They're just as likely t drive Pokemon to extinction if they keep going the way they are.